The present invention relates to a connector for electrically connecting a first connection object such as an IC card to a second connection object such as a printed circuit board.
Connectors disclosed in, for example, JP-A-H06-196226 and JP-A-2000-42933 each include a block-like insulator and conductive contacts retained by the insulator. Each contact has a retention portion fixedly retained by the insulator, a contact portion projected from one surface, i.e. a first surface, of the insulator, and a connecting portion projected from an opposite surface, i.e. a second surface, of the insulator.
The connector of this type can be used for connection between a circuit board and an IC card. Upon use, the connector is set in the state where the second surface of the insulator confronts the circuit board. The connecting portions of the contacts are electrically connected to an electrical circuit of the circuit board. When the IC card is set so as to confront the first surface of the insulator, an electrical circuit embedded in the IC card is electrically connected to the contact portions of the contacts. In this manner, the IC card is connected to the circuit board by the connector.
There are instances where a recessed groove portion is formed at a central portion of the second surface of the insulator. This groove portion can provide a space between the second surface of the insulator and the circuit board where various mounting components such as electronic components can be disposed. The space of this type is called a “standoff region” herein.
Following the reduction in size of devices in recent years, high-density mounting has been required for a connector and mounting components on a circuit board. However, if the connector is simply reduced in size to thereby increase packaging density, the foregoing standoff region is narrowed to disable placement of the mounting components in this region. In this case, the surface of the circuit board can not be used effectively. Further, since it is necessary to ensure springiness of each contact, there is also a limitation on reduction in size of the connector.